What essential medicines for children are on the shelf?
Jane Robertson, Gilles Forte, Jean-Marie Trapsida & Suzanne Hill
Volume 87, Number 3, March 2009, 231-237
Table 2. Variability in and range of prices paid by patients for five selected children’s medicines in the public and private sector across 14 countries in central Africa
| Medicine | Variability in prices across countriesa |
Range of pricesb | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (US$) |
|||||
| Public sector | Retail pharmacy | Public sector | Retail pharmacy | ||
| Amoxicillin suspension | 1.3–2.6 | 1.3–2.3 | 0.44–2.13 | 0.27–4.16 | |
| 125 mg/5 ml (100 ml) | |||||
| Ceftriaxone | 1.1–17.8 | 1.1–5.3 | 0.82–26.63 | 0.54–18.67 | |
| 1-g injection (one vial) | |||||
| Co-trimoxazole suspension | 1.6–3.4 | 1.1–16.4 | 0.27–4.16 | 0.27–5.62 | |
| 200 mg + 40 mg/5 ml (100 ml) | |||||
| Paracetamol syrup | 1.3–3.0 | 1.0–1.8 | 0.27–2.71 | 0.27–2.85 | |
| 120 mg/5 ml (100 ml) | |||||
| Salbutamol inhaler | 1.0–2.0 | 1.0–2.8 | 1.30–7.25 | 2.07–7.47 | |
| 100 µg/dose (1 unit) | |||||
a A variability of 1.0 means that the same price was charged in all similar health-care facilities within a country. The variability was calculated when more than one price was provided for public sector facilities. The variability within each country was calculated and the range of the variability across countries is listed in the table.
b Range of prices across all countries reporting usable data.